Plant-setting machine



May 19A, 1.9311* Y, A. MORRIS I 1,805,839

PLANT SET'JIINGl MACHINE Filed April '7,'1930 JNVENTOR. Hasn/v Name/s.

A TTORNEY BY XM XM Ui'rfa PATENT oFFicE ASTIN MOB-RIS, F GREENWOOD, INDIANA vrrr/.mm-sE'r'rrNe MACHINE Application filed Aprn 7, 1930. serial No. 442,074

This invention relates to a plant-,setting of this feature, all damage to plants by conmachine principally for use in transplantingtact with the check wire is eliminated and tomato and other similar plants. a great saving in time is effected in placing p The principal object of the invention is thev check wire in position for settingeach .'ifj to provide apparatus by means of which a row. n l 5s field of such plants may be set at a higher Other objects and features of the invenf rate of speed and with greater accuracy in tion will be understood from the accomthe placing of the 'plants than has been pospanying drawings and the following den sible heretofore. i scription and claims: y"10 In the planting of such plants, it has been Fig. 1 is a plan view of 4a field illustraty60 the practice heretofore to mark off the field ino' the position of the check wire, several to indicate` the proper position for each rows of plants already planted and the poof the plants. 'A planting machine is then sition of the' plant-setting'machine while A driven backward and forward across the planting another row. Fig. '2 s a plan View Y y field. The said Vmachine carries -a device, of the setting machine` itself. Fig. 3 is a 65 usually termed a shoe, which cuts a furdiagrammatic view in elevation of the'linkvrow into which a plant 'may be placed by age used to operate the piantdischarging hand. One or more menl ordinarily ride mechanism and its relation to the shoe bethe setting machine and place the plants, in fore mentioned. Figs. 4 and 5 are plan the said furrow at the pointsindicated by views of the said shoe, plant-receiving re- 70 the marks previously placed upon the field. ceptacle and discharge mechanism shown in The speed of this process is limited to the the plant-receiving and plant-discharging speed at which the men can accurately place position respectively. Fig. 6 is a diagramn i Vthe plants at the proper position within the maticalelevational view of an alternative F furrow. V form of the apparatusv used toactuate the 75 One feature of theL present inventionreplant discharge mechanism. f sides in the provision of means whereby the In Fig. 1 is represented a field 10 having plants are placed bythe men in a receptacle three rows 11 of plants already setV thereon.

associated with said shoe and are automat- A setting machine indicated generally by ically discharged therefrom at the` proper the numeral 12 is illustrated in the proper r80 time to assume their proper position upon position for setting the fourth rowv 13 of the field. The discharge of the plantsl from the plants. The said machine is assumed to 'the said receptacle is accomplished by bev progressing in the direction shown by means of mechanism actuated by a so-called the arrow and is drawn by Ya tractor, the l35 check wire stretched from end to end of rear end of whichis indicated bythe numer- S5 the field andcarrying knots or other projecal`14:. If desired, the setting machine may' Ytions properly spaced to actuate the said me-r be horsedrawn instead. A check wire 15k chanism to discharge the plants at their vis attached to a suitable anchorage 16 at the proper place. Y end of the fieldl toward which the machineis 40 Another important feature of the invenprogressing. rlhe said wire extends paralf tion resides in the provision of mechanism lel with the rows of plants and is initially for moving the said check wire from one positioned betweenthe last row planted and side ofthe row of plants to the opposite the desired position of the next row. The side without damaging the plants. This is said check wire engages suitable mechanism, accomplished byanrattachment upon the setwhich will be hereinafter described, upon -95 ting machine which picks up the said check 'the setting machine and leaves the said setwire upon one side of the row' of plants and ting machine, as indicated, at a point beyond automatically lays it` down upon the oppothe newly set row of plants. The end of the site side in theproper position for the setcheck wire at the end of the field frorn ting of the next row of plants. By means which the setting machine is proJecting 1s 100 fastened toa suitable anchorage 17 which bears the same relation to the fourth row of plants that the anchorage 16 bears to the third row. 1n the setting of the nez-1t succeeding row of plants, the direction of travel of the machine is reversed.

The setting machine itself comprises a frame having main longitudinal frame members 18 supported upon a pair of wheels 19 and carrying the vfew-.fard end attachments not shown in the drawings for attaching the machine to a tractor. Supported upon the frame members 18 are a pair of seats 20 for the operators and a pair of supports 21 for boitesv of plants to be transplanted. A water tank 22 is likewise carried thereon and, above the water tank is a drivers seat 28 for use by the driver in case the apparatus is to be drawn by a horse or horses. A secondary frame 24 is carried by the frame 18 and in turn supports the slice 25 for euttinCT the desired furrow in which the plants are to be placed. The frame 24 may be raised and lowered to regulate the depth of the furrew to be cut and also to raise the shoe above the ground.

The shoe 25 is formed with a central cavity 26 in which is carried reciprocablD menber 27. At the rear of the snee 25 there are placed a pair of hinged gates 28 normally maintained in the closed position shown in Fig. 4 by suitable springs. rlhe under part of the shoe 25 terminates at the rearward end in a triangular lip 29.` As will be seen from Fig. 4, the gates 28, reciprocable member 27 and lip 29 form together a. Acept-acle 30 open at the top in which a plant may be placed. Vfhen the reciprocating member 27 is rearwardly moved, as shown in Fig. 5, a plant so placed is immediately discharged into the furrow cut by the shoe 25. it will be noticed also that in the movement of the said reeiprocable member, the corners thereof engage the gate 28 for opening the so that there is no possibility of crushing the plant between the said member and 'the said gates.

A water conduit 31 controlled by a valve 32 leads from the water tank 22 to a position directly above the receptacle 80. 1n practice, a small stream of water is continuelly discharged into the said receptacle and the joints between the lip 29 and the gates 28 are suiiiciently water tight to permit a supply of water to accumulate in the said receptacle to be discharged with each plant. After the discharge of each plant, the furrow is closed to maintain the plant in position by means of a pair of rollers 33 carried upon the frame 24. y

The mechanism for operating` the reciprocable member 27 for discharging plants includes a pair of so-called check forks 34 carried by a horizontal shaft 35 supported upon suitable bearings on thek frame members 18. The forks 34 are positioned at opposite sides of the machine and one used to engage the check wire 15 when travelling across the field in one direction and the opposite one is so used when travelling in the opposite direction. The shaft 35 also carries a downwardly-eXtending lever 36 to which is connected a link 87 in turn connected to the upper end of a lever 38 pivotally mounted upon a shaft 39. The lower end of the lever 38 is forked and engages a lug 40 carried upon the upper surface of the reciprocable member 27. A tension spring 41 is connected to the lever 38 and to a cross member 42 forming a portion of the frame of the machine. rlhe link 37 and spring 41 are shown 'partially cut away in Fig. 2 to show other parts in detail. A pair of transversely-extending frame members 43 are supported upon the frame members 18 and carry at each end a casting 44 supporting rollers 45 adapted to guide the check wire and maintain the same in proper engagement with the fork 34. The said check wire is provided with knots 46 at suitable intervals to determine the spacing of the plant setting.

ln the operation of the apparatus so far described with the setting machine progressin the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, the check wire is guided by the rollers 45 and maintained in position in the crotch of one of the forks 34. As each of the knots 46 engages the said crotch, the fork 34 is pulled toward the rear end ofthe machine thus rocking the shaft 35 and actuating the link 37 and lever 38 to move the reciprocable member 27 to discharge a plant from the receptacle 30. As soon as the fork 84 has moved hrough a predetermined angle, the knot 46 is free to slip from the crotch thereof and the spring 41 operates to return the mechanism to its normal position. linmediately thereafter another plant may be placed in the receptacle and may be discharged upon actuation of the mechanism by the next succeeding knot 46. 1t is only necessary, therefore, that the operators place the plants in the receptacle 30 between the time that the member 27 returns to normal position and the time of the next actuation of the discharge mechanism. The human element in maintaining the accuracy of planting is entirely eliminated. Since the human element is the limiting factor in the speed of the 0peration heretofore in use, the elimination of this factor makes it possibleto greatly increase the speed of travel of the machine and at the same time maintain a much greater accuracy in the position of plant setting.

Upon leaving the rollers 45, the check wire 15 is trained about a pulley 47 carried upon a horizontal member 48 in turn carried upon the rear ends of frame members 18. A similar pulley 49 is provided at the opposite endl of the member 48-for use in planting in the opposite direction. From the pulley 47, the check wire l5 is trained about a pulley 5() carried upon a frame 5l supported by the frame members 18.' The said frame 5l is placed at a suflicient distance above the ground so that it does not interfere with the plants already set. The pulley 50 is offset from the center of the machine sufficiently to allow the check wire to be laid down on the ground to the left of the newly plantedrow of plants, referring to Figs. l and 2. By this means, all danger of damage to the plants is eliminated and the check wire is laid down in the proper position for the setting of the next row of plants.

At the completion of planting ofV the fourth row of plants, referring` to Fig. l, the machine is turned around, the anchorage 16 is moved to its proper place with relation to thenext row vto be planted and the process is repeated. n

In Fig. 6 is illustrated an alternative form ously discharge a plant from said receptacle l into said furrow.

3. Plant-setting apparatus including a portable device adapted to be moved across a field, ra plant-setting receptacle carried thereby, a reciprocable member adapted to discharge a plant therefrom for setting, a knotted check wire adapted to be placed in a predetermined position upon said field, a

check fork carried by said device and en-y fixed my signature.

AUSTIN MORRIS.

of apparatus for returning the reciprocable i member 27 to plant-receiving position. In this alternative form, a horizontal shaft 52 is placed parallel withthe shaft 35 and to the rear thereof. The shaft 52 carries at each end a check fork 53 similar to the check forks 34. rIhe shafts 52 and 35 are connected by a link 54: and levers 55 and 56 in such manner that movement of one of said shafts in one direction moves the other in the opposite direction. The check Wire l5 is successively passed through the crotches of forks 3e and 53. The engagement of the knots 46 with fork 34 actuates the reciprocable member 27 to discharge a plant, as previ- Y ously described, and thereafter the engagement of the said knot with fork 53 actuates the mechanism to return the reciprocable member 27 to plant-receiving position. Thus a positive return for the member 27 is furnished and the spring 4:1 may be omitted.

The invention claimed is:

l. Plant-setting apparatus including a portable device adapted to be moved across a field, a receptacle carried thereby for the reception of a plant to be set, a hinged closure for said receptacle, and a reciprocable member automatically operable at predetermined intervals to engage said hinged closure for opening the same and to simultaneopsly discharge a plant from said receptac e.

2. Plant-setting apparatus including a portable device adapted to be moved across a field, a member. carried thereby adapted to form a furrow for the reception of plants, said member including a receptacle for the reception of plants to be set, a hinged closure for said receptacle, andra reciprocable member automatically operable at predetermined intervals to engage said hinged closure for opening the same and to simultane- 

